If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Sarah Shourd - $ .5 m "bail" or "ransom" ?

So (at least part of) Iran says pay up $500,000 "bail" and she goes free.
I see the definition of "bail" as : the temporary release of a prisoner in exchange for security given for the due appearance of the prisoner. I have not seen one mention in any news story of Sarah having to return to Iran for court.
So if this is true, imo, this is not "bail" but a ransom especially when the BBC reports that "a number of people facing trial in Iran have taken the option of leaving the country and forfeiting their bail, (italics mine) rather than risk facing a long prison term". What the hell is PBO (through Axelrod) doing issuing statements like "Obviously we're hopeful and encouraged by this news but there have been starts and stops in this before and until that actually happens, you know, we're on a wait-and-see basis," ? Also "On the eve of the one-year anniversary of their arrest, (shades of Carter) Obama had issued a plea for their immediate release, saying they had never worked for the US government and committed "absolutely no crime.".

Why are we not hearing the White House demand that the Iranian government release these illegally held American citizens immediately and unconditionally? That after a year of captivity they call for the Iranian to produce this equipment "which can only be used for espionage" and show the world? He talks tough about "kicking ass" when it comes to BP, but issues "pleas" when our citizens are, by his own statement, illegally held by a hostile government.
Why are we even considering letting Ahmadinejad, who is obviously not in charge of the country, into the US to speak at the UN General Assembly?
PBO complains that "people are talking about me like a dog", well, man up and stop whining like like one.

This is the kind of crap, that happens and is going to increasingly, when an American President goes around the world kowtowing and apologizing.
Instead the "tough, unilateral sanctions" proposed by Congress in April should be in place already and we should be issuing statements like "The US Government might consider releasing 1/2 mil of frozen assets if the hikers are let go immediately". "The US regards this action by the Iranians as highly provocative and the removal of of US combat forces from the region has been put on hold indefinitely until this matter is resolved to our satisfaction".
Shourd's family should not have to pay one penny of this ransom. If so, then PBO should reimburse them personally out of his book royalties and then retitle it the "Asininity of Dopes".

"It's not that government is inherently stupid, although that's a debatable question."
Rand Paul CPAC speech 2011

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791
________________________________________
Proud partner of (HR) WR SR Brian's 44Magnum Monster
co-owned by HR Rianne's 2nd Chance Hurricane Rebel

I think it can be a fine line between being a religious bigot and a realist. The system is antiquated and based upon, what is it 12th century writings? “Those People”, and I understand the consequences of typing in such a way but. Those people need to step out of the past and into today’s world. I truly understand how hard that can be for some. I have handed my Father a cell phone. I get it.That system that those people have is not working. Is oppressive. And needs to be changed.

But……. It’s their system, what can you and I do?

.

"So what is big is not always the Trout nor the Deer but the chance, the being there. And what is full is not necessarily the creel nor the freezer, but the memory." ~ Aldo Leopold

"The Greatest Obstacle to Discovery is not Ignorance -- It is the Illusion of Knowledge" ~ Daniel Boorstin

I do not understand why people go walking or hiking in countries that are not stable. Why all the fuss? These people are adults, not children as the media keeps referring. Teens or children who are kidnapped by their none custodial parent do not get half this must attention from the media or the president to be returned to this country. First the fuss with the N Koreans and now with Iran over adults who made mad choices. It is not bail, but ransom. I hope my tax dollars are not going to pay this bill.